On 6 July, 45 Ukrainian defenders returned home from Russian captivity, said the Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine, Andrii Yermak.
“We managed to bring back 45 of our soldiers from captivity, including two officers, 41 soldiers, a sergeant, a civilian employee of Azovstal, and a volunteer defender from Kherson,” he wrote on Telegram.
In addition, two children, 6-year-old Renat and 10-year-old Varvara, who had been deported by Russian troops, were also released in the latest prisoner swap. Their mother, a combat medic, was freed during a prisoner exchange in October 2022, Yermak said.